FOR three months Adam Wolley has been tirelessly peddling across some of Earth’s toughest terrain on an epic cycle ride that will see him cover 10,000 gruelling miles.

The 21-year-old, of Saxtead, near Framlingham, is travelling from London to Cape Town, South Africa, in aid of the Malaria Consortium.

He set off on New Year’s Day from Marble Arch and is now in Ethiopia – having previously travelled through Europe and into northern Africa.

The recent leg – through Egypt and the Nubian Desert towards the Sudanese capital of Khartoum – has been anything but easy for Mr Wolley.

Problems with a rear wheel have meant that one of his friends had to fly out with a replacement to ensure it was fixed before a visa ran out.

Temperatures of 40C-plus have also taken their toll along with sandy roads, which have made pedalling impossible.

“At first it was as though my body had trouble adapting to the heat,” he said. “There was a very noticeable step up in temperature from Egypt.

“Not only was the temperature pushing towards 40 degrees but there was nowhere to stop and find food or water and for the first two days no real shade on offer to escape the sun.”

When Mr Wolley did finally arrive at a village the only shop was closed and he was forced to carry on with water running low.

“I was pretty daunted by the idea of 500km on my own with limited water supplies through some of the most barren terrain in northern Africa,” he said. “The thing that really bent my mind out of shape was the long, straight roads.

“When there’s nothing to look at but endless sand it leaves precious little else to think about other than how much you are hurting and how far you are from the next shower, rest and cold drink.”

The going has been so tough that Mr Wolley has lost 12% of his body weight since leaving London and was forced to rest for six days before he felt strong enough to continue.

“I set off from Khartoum too soon as I would suffer for an extra four days on the road to the Ethiopian border,” he said. “It was more of the same, desert with long, straight roads but with the added ‘fun’ of buses tearing up and down the road.”

However, the one silver lining is that he has reached his target of raising �5,000 for the Malaria Consortium and is now hoping to push on to �10,000.

“This would buy an incredible 2,000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets – I know it can be done,” he said.

To support Mr Wolley visit www.justgiving.com/adamwolley or www.wheresadam.moonfruit.com to see his progress.